The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on March 23, 2023, urged the United States government not to impose a rule that would limit thousands of people’s access to asylum on the border with Mexico.

President Joe Biden’s administration’s intention to impose this restriction on the border has drawn criticism from both lawmakers and other organizations advocating human rights, according to the BBC.

Influential Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez, along with three other congressmen, asked the administration in February to reverse its plans.

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What happens if the United States passes an immigration law that restricts asylum?

If approved, the asylum application would require migrants to request an interview with US officials through a phone app or apply for asylum in another country before arriving in the United States.

If the new rules are not followed, migrants will not be eligible for asylum if they enter the United States through the border.

The new rules would apply to adults and families, but not to unaccompanied children.

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Many migrants have waited at the border fence for weeks until Title 42 is no longer in effect. GETTY IMAGES Photo: BBC World

Under the plan, migrants would have to use an app to make an appointment to speak with a US immigration officer when they arrive at the border. Those who fail to make the appointment would not be entitled to seek asylum in the countries they have traveled through.

The proposal, jointly drafted by the Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Justice, would allow undocumented migrants to be expelled quickly.

It would be one of the most restrictive immigration measures in Biden’s entire tenure, who pledged during his campaign to repeal the restrictive policies of the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021).

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What is Title 42?

Title 42 is part of the Public Health Act of 1944 and temporarily allows the expulsion of foreign nationals for health reasons.

The administration of then Republican President Trump resorted to that rule in March 2020, at the start of the covid-19 pandemic, and Biden has decided to extend and expand this rule several times as it was about to expire.

A group of migrants prepares to cross the Rio Grande today, in the town of Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas (Mexico). EFE/Abraham Pineda Jacome
Photo: Abraham Pineda Jacome

However, with the pandemic already over, the Democratic Executive has indicated that it will lift Title 42 on May 11, when the health emergency declared by the coronavirus ends.

The White House’s intent with this rule is to “fill the legal vacuum” that will arise after the possible end in May of Title 42, a health regulation that allows the return of migrants at the border.